Elite: Dangerous is getting a new type of space station; Braben thinks about gravity a lot

Elite: Dangerous’ David Braben was at E3 to show off Frontier Development’s increasingly excellent space sim in a new demo. Some of the content will be familiar to those of you in the premium beta, but Braben punctuates the 15 minute space adventure with news of planned content. There’s even a quick look at a new type of gargantuan space station due out in an upcoming update.

It’s coming along nicely, it seems, and some of the upcoming features like the smoother docking should come in extremely handy given how hands on the process is in Elite. The new system will help ships to conform with the docking bay using electromagnetics.

The mercenary shenanigans also seem well thought out. So often, being a mercenary is just a shortcut that leaves players with weak motivations, but Elite: Dangerous looks like it will give meaningful options to mercenaries.

More than anything else, though, it’s the detail that’s left me impressed with the demo. When Braben talks excitedly about gravity and its importance, like how moon-like gravity makes lifting cargo easier, or how the second ring on the new Orbis station allows for 0.5G which theoretically could provide more comfort for the elderly or people with heart problems, the universe starts to feel real.